Infections are frequent in patients with severe alcoholic liver disease, but are only independently associated with mortality when patients receive prednisolone, researchers report in the April issue of Gastroenterology. This could offset prednisolone’s therapeutic benefit. This study’s senior author, Mark Thursz, discusses the findings in a video abstract. As with

Researchers have developed a patient-derived cell line-based model to study how intratumor heterogeneity affects sensitivity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to different therapeutic agents, reported in the January issue of Gastroenterology. HCCs have a large amount of genetic heterogeneity within each tumor, making them difficult to treat. Multiple regions of tumors

Nonselective beta blockers (NSBBs) do not significantly increase the risk of death in patients with cirrhosis and ascites or refractory ascites, researchers report in the August issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The findings from this meta-analysis do not support the position that NSBBs be routinely withheld from patients with

Fasting levels of ammonia (NH3) in blood identify patients at risk for complications of overt hepatic encephalopathy (HE), researchers report in the June issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Patients with HE might benefit from NH3-lowering therapy. Humans have no repository for excess dietary nitrogen, so we convert excess dietary

Deaths from almost all cancers in the United States decreased from 1975 to 2012—except for liver cancer. In the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2012, published online by the National Cancer Institute, A. Blythe Ryerson et al report that the overall cancer death rates for

Nutritional therapy for patients with cirrhosis and minimal hepatic encephalopathy (MHE) not only improves their nutritional status, but increases cognitive function, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and liver function and reduces hospitalization, researchers report in the March issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. HE is a spectrum of neuropsychiatric abnormalities that develops in

A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the patatin-like phospholipase domain containing 3 gene (PNPLA3) is associated with baseline level of fibrosis and its progression, but not development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, researchers report in the February issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Most

Americans are drinking themselves to death at a record-breaking rate, according a December 18 report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Rose A. Rudd et al reported that “30,700 Americans died from alcohol-induced causes, including alcohol poisoning and cirrhosis.” This

Medicaid programs in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania denied nearly half of all claims in the past year for direct-acting antiviral (DAA) hepatitis C drugs, according to an analysis of pharmacy data presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases 2015 Liver Meeting. The finding confirms

About the Author

Dr. Kristine Novak is the science editor for Gastroenterology and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She has worked as an editor at biomedical research journals and as a science writer for 15 years, covering advances in gastroenterology, hepatology, cancer, immunology, biotechnology, molecular genetics, and clinical trials. She has a PhD in cell biology and an interest in all areas of medical research.